Pokemon Light
by Shadowfox Delta
Summary: Joe, a trainer from Fuchsia city starts his journey after studying for three long years. when he finds trouble and saves a ralts on the way to celdon he makes a new friend and Partner. making friends on the way he strives to be a Pokemon master
1. Send off, Journey begins!

Chapter 1: Send off! Journey begins!

* * *

><p>It was a sunny day in fuchsia city. Pidgey and Spearow were flying overhead and the sounds of the natural bug and grass Pokémon from the area could be heard<p>

"JOE! WAKE UP! YOUR GOING TO BE LATE!" until that happened. The townsfolk in the area were shaking their heads.

"Looks like Joe over slept again."

"I know, fourth time this week too. I wonder what he does all night." A random person said.

"ALRIGHT, I'M UP, I'M UP! Sheesh, guy can't catch a break around here."

"Well it's a two day trip from here to Pallet town where you get the registration for becoming a trainer. You said you were going to get your license this year." The boy's mom said

"yeah, I wonder which one I'll get though. Bulbasaur is able to learn attack that suit most situations, but in its stats it's stamina leaves much to be desired while not growing in said area much after evolving into an Ivysaur. Charmander is more of an offensive hitter, but its defense against physical and special attacks aren't that good" his mom rolled her eyes at him "and finally is Squirtle. The all around player what it lacks in Stamina until it evolves is made up for by the offensive and defensive attacks that it can learn" Joe finally finished

"Ok mister critic, I hate to say it but I'm gonna have to stop your rant. You still have to get dressed." She said

"Eh?" Joe looked at himself and saw he was still in his pajamas. So he went back upstairs to get changed and grab his pack. He looked in the mirror and put a comb through his hair. He had Medium length black hair and Cyan blue eyes. He wore a white short sleeve shirt under an open blue hooded jacket, faded blue jeans and a pair of Running shoes as he called them. In all honesty they were just a pair of Adidas shoes, white with dark blue mixed in. Grabbing his wallet with all of the money he saved over the years he went downstairs and got ready to go. His sister Jessica was at work, she didn't want to become a trainer and instead started a little gift shop with the help of the Safari Zone warden, Baoba(did I spell the guys name right?). His Father Keith worked in Almia region and came home when he could; his father was a Ranger after all. His little brother and sister were at their Friends houses due the sleepovers they had constantly.

When he said goodbye to his mother, Maria, he set off going through civilian roads to get to the next few towns before getting to vermillion city where he would catch a ride one of his friends set up for him which would take about a day to get from point A to point B. and going on the bike path to Celedon city was his first objective, to get from Fuchsia to Vermillion; one has two options available. Option one is to go on the bike route to Celedon, cross from there and into Saffron city and head south to Vermillion. Option two is to go on the ocean side route, pass by the fishing critic's house and then the Diglett Cave. Joe of course chose the former because he wanted to stop by the department store and pick up a few Items: your average potions, Poke dolls for a quick escape from a wild Pokémon, Pokémon food for when he got his starter and other various supplies for long 'in the wild' trips (sleeping bags, human food, matches, Etc.) he got on his Bike and started on the route when he was close to Celedon there was a commotion down on the road since this was a Nature area not many travelers aside from people with bikes came down this road. Joe saw two people standing in back of the truck they had. What they were shouting about shocked him. He went to an area where he couldn't be seen.

"So what do you think the boss wants with this tiny thing? It can't even back up that pathetic little growl it let out earlier." Said thug #1

"I don't know Jack, I don't make the orders I follow them. Just get the damn tire out from in there and put it on. We have a schedule to keep." Thug #2 said

When he looked past the two he saw several cages with Pokémon in them. He had to do something. He remembered his fathers words _'son, when the option comes to help an innocent Pokémon, an inanimate object can be replaced, a life can't, however. One small move can make a difference.' _ He got out of his hiding spot and charged at them with his bike in both hands.

"HEY UGLY!" both of the thugs turned around only to be hit with a bike Joe took the keys from the one that was called 'jack' and unlocked all of the cages. Pidgeotto, Donphan, Heracross, Sneasel, and finally Ralts. The Ralts however looked to be poisoned.

"ugh…..brat your going to regret that, Sandslash get out her and hit him with a poison jab!" a Sandslash came out of the truck and just as Joe got out of the truck as well he was hit with a poisoned claw, courtesy of Sandslash. It hit him and cut the side of his shirt but it stung and would only get worse if he didn't get to a Pokémon center. Dodging the rest of the jabs he started running with Ralts in his arms straight to Celedon.

When he made it, the effects of the poison jab that was used on him was really kicking in, his breathing was a bit labored, his vision getting blurry. He barged in. as luck would have it Officer Jenny and Prof. Oak was also there talking about something. They were startled when a boy came in with a Ralts in his arms. Nurse joy, Jenny and Oak rushed over to him as he collapsed.

"Please help Ralts...poisoned by... thugs..." Joe muttered as the effects fully kicked in, and he blacked out.

"His shirt is ripped and the only poison attacks I can think of that would do that kind of damage in a short time is poison jab and poison fang. It doesn't look like the latter." After inspecting both Nurse joy went to get an antidote while chansey Helped Jenny put Joe on a 'pull out in emergency' bed with Ralts. Nurse joy came back with the antidote and injected it into the boy, and Ralts. Afterwards she took Ralts to the Pokémon recovery room. Officer jenny looked through his wallet for a type of Identification and found an old Ranger deputy card

"Josiah 'Joe' Middleton Ranger deputy to Almia top ranger Keith Middleton" Jenny said aloud.

"Then he must also be the one that was appointed to come to my lab in about two days. Hm…"

"Whats wrong professor?"

"He reminds me of Ash."

"Huh? Care to elaborate?"

"In the sense that he does what he can to protect the wellbeing of the Pokémon, putting said Pokémon before himself." The old professor stated.

Jenny smiled at that. She had met ash once or twice, when she was in the area of the Squirtle Squad incident. "Well, that's true. I can definitely see that in him. What are you going to do when he wakes up, though?"

"I still have business I need to attend to so I'll be staying at least until Five P.M. tomorrow. If he's anything like ash as I stated he will want to wait until he knows that the Ralts is safe, which if my guess is right should be about three o'clock tomorrow afternoon, but then again I'm not a doctor so it's merely a guess. When all is said and done I'll take him with me to my lab so we can get the paperwork filled out and give him his license as a trainer." Oak replied

"Alright, will give me enough time to get some questions in." Oak nodded and went off to the department store

* * *

><p><em>Next Morning<em>

'Ugh…what happened? Lets see Bike route, thugs, and' Joe's eyes widened "RALTS!" he exclaimed

"Is fine, and good morning, Joe. My name is Samuel Oak. The one you were going to meet in pallet. Nurse Joy told me to let you know that Ralts is going to make a full recovery by this afternoon." Joe sighed in relief

"If you don't mind me asking, Professor, why are you in Celedon?" The elder started laughing.

"You see, like my colleagues in the other regions I have my share of Contacts that help with my discoveries and give me the information to help in my studies. My contact had come across a LIVE Kabuto and had it caught. Due to most of the ancient Pokémon being extinct we have to hope that we can find the fossils to restore these Pokémon and hopefully put them in a natural environment to help them reproduce. Said environment is already set up at the lab so that when the Pokémon becomes strong enough it will be able to survive on its own and be released into the wild. The studies on these ancient Pokémon are just to study the likes and habits ingrained into the DNA of the Pokémon and how it lives." Joe looked at him with a dead pan look

"In English Professor."

"**Sigh**, my friend came across a Kabuto and I came to study it and hopefully put it in an artificial environment until it can survive on its own."

"That actually makes more sense."

[A/N: I'm sorry to interrupt this broadcast but I need to let the viewers know that I will not be doing the Pokémon talk like how Pikachu always does this whole 'pika pikachupi' thing I will just have them talk like their thinking. Think of it as a sort of telepathy]

Nurse joy came into the room around two thirty-five P.M. Joe was already dressed and on the waiting bench before that happened and when she came out, Ralts was right beside her. Joe saw it and went over

"Well Joe, Ralts is ready to go." She said with a smile on her face

"Heya Ralts, I'm Joe, the one that helped you get here" the Ralts looked up

'Thank you for your help. I really appreciate it' it then proceeded to hug his leg.

"Joe while I hate to break this up. Officer Jenny still has questions for you and we still have to get to the lab." Oak said

* * *

><p><em>With Jenny<em>

Joe came to Jenny's office with Ralts, since it wouldn't leave him for some reason

"Okay, I want to make this clear, this is not an interrogation. I am merely asking for a police report on what happened so we can resolve the entirety of the matter and not just sweep it to the side." Joe nodded "what happened to get both you and Ralts poisoned like you were?"

"I don't know what completely happened before my appearance on the scene, I was coming to Celedon from the Bike route and saw a truck with two suspicious guys staring on the inside and talking about Ralts and a tire. What I can guess is that they received a shipment of Poached Pokémon and were tasked with bringing them back to the boss. When I looked past them I saw that they had the caged Pokémon in the back of the truck, the Pokémon I remember seeing were Pidgeotto, Donphan, Heracross, and this Ralts. Ralts however was already poisoned. Taking a chance I grabbed my bike and threw it at them, knocking at least one unconscious and the other one getting hurt. I took the keys to the cages from thug that was getting the tire out and released the Pokémon, Ralts couldn't go anywhere on its own because of its status. When I grabbed Ralts the thug that was still awake called out a Sandslash and had it use Poison jab on me. I only got out with just a tear in my shirt and a small nick, but I guess that's all that it took, after I got to the Pokémon center I blacked out." He finished. Officer Jenny smiled

"Thank you for the report; I'll have some of my people working to catch the culprits. You did a good thing putting Ralts before yourself, and it seems that it wants to stay with you, a person and soon to be trainer it can trust. Prof. Oak is probably waiting for you outside so you both can get going." Joe gave her a grateful look before heading out with Ralts.

* * *

><p><em>With Oak on the road<em>

Prof. Oak had a nice car to get to the other towns in. there were a few Highways only meant for quick transportation from towns like Saffron going into Pewter City, since the only way from Cerulean city was . When they finally arrived in Pallet town things were more peaceful.

"Well, welcome to Pallet town, Joe. It may not look like much but there is a lot of nature in this area and is also where trainers start their journeys." The Elder said.

With ten minutes of arriving in pallet they came upon a Pokémon research facility A.K.A. Prof. Oak's lab. Behind it was a huge nature preserve with many types of Pokémon ranging from Spearow all the way to a Lucario, Pokémon of different Shapes and sizes, it was amazing.

"Wow…..there's more Pokémon here than what I've seen in the Safari Zone. But I guess that's to be expected huh."

Ralts looked up at him and said 'yeah, I think I saw a gallade even.'

"Well lets go in and get everything sorted out, shall we?" the Professor proceeded to usher them into the lab. Inside the lab was a person moving boxes of what looked like reference material to a desk. He had medium black hair with a red headband, a green short sleeve shirt and a pair of brown khaki shorts as well as normal Nike shoes (black and white color scheme).

"Welcome back professor, the material is where you want it now, Prof. Ivy called earlier asking for reference work on the Sinnoh native; Garchomp."

"You told her to contact Gary didn't you?" Oak asked.

"Yes, I did. You don't mind if I take a break do you, I've been up since five." The boy said

"Very well, oh before I forget. Joe this is Tracey, my assistant and an excellent sketch artist. Tracey this is Joe, the new trainer I told you about."

Sticking out his hand he gave a greeting. "Nice to meet you Joe, is that Ralts by chance yours?"

Joe took the hand and gave the ceremonial greeting shake [A/N: this is just what I call it.] "Unfortunately its not, I'm not a trainer yet, but the little guy seems to want to follow me around. I think it feels a lot safer around me because of the incident that happened the other day." Ralts hid behind Joe's leg when Tracey crouched down to get a better look.

"It's definitely shy, but it doesn't look like that's its nature. well... if I've learned anything, it's that Pokémon tend to warm up around people that are with it often. Oh well, guess it can't be helped at this time, can it?"

"Joe if you'll follow me we'll get your picture taken and you license printed out."

They went to a Room with a camera and equipment for getting the license printed out. Once the trainer card was taken care of the next matter was getting him registered into the trainer database and getting the bar code put on the back of the card. After 10 minutes of that they were finally done and next came the big step.

"Now is the first official step of becoming a trainer, Joe. To receive your very first Pokémon. These three poke balls are the Kanto starters the blue tape is Squirtle, the Red is Charmander, and the green is Bulbasaur. Take your pick but only one of course."

Joe looked at the poke balls contemplating which one he would get. When he noticed that Ralts was still next to him. "Professor, has there ever been any cases in which a trainers first Pokémon is something other than the starters?" he asked

The professor looked at him like he had grown a second head, but then calmed down a bit when he saw the Ralts. "Yes, there has been one case. About three or four years ago, I forget, but the Trainer was Ash Ketchum. His first Pokémon was a Pikachu and from what I saw the two have bonded marvelously and grown strong enough to take any competition. In fact he was in the top five at the Johto silver conference." Joe went wide eyed at that. "He's currently in Sinnoh. Why do you ask?"

"I've weighed my options and if possible I'd like to take Ralts as my partner" Ralts snapped its head up at the statement.

'R-really? Y-y-you want m-me to be your partner?' it asked

"Well do you see another Ralts in this room?" Joe asked with a smile

"I suppose that this can be allowed." The old professor said with a smile "do you want to give your Ralts a nickname?"

Joe thought about that for a moment before answering "Luce (lu-say), if I remember right, it means 'light'"

"That sounds like a good name. Here this Poke ball will be used for the Ralts to identify it as yours, along with that, there is the beginners five-set poke balls and Pokedex, your already registered for the Indigo League so with this you'll be all set." Giving the poke ball to Joe, he gave the Pokémon an assuring smile before Joe crouched and Ralts put its hand on the center of the poke ball. A red light enveloped it and it went into the poke ball.

With everything taken care and being set to go, Joe left pallet with the fond memory that this is where his journey begins. First stop, Viridian city

* * *

><p>[AN: well this was actually pretty fun to write. I saw a few fics and never saw one with a Ralts as the starting Pokémon, as someone once said (I forget the name) if you want to see a story that badly, write it your self.

(next time, on Pokémon light:

Joe: what! Why are you being merciless Luce already lost

Trainer: your Pokémon is weak

Joe: Luce, I'm sorry)


	2. first battle, return of dimsun

Chapter 2: rivals, loss, and ghosts?

* * *

><p>Joe walked down the path leading to Viridian with Luce by his side; having someone travel with you is better than traveling alone after all. When reaching the entrance to Viridian, there was a commotion. A group of trainers at the scene.<p>

"Metapod, use harden!" A trainer shouted at his Metapod the attacking Pokémon, a rattata, used a bite attack but the damage was minimized thanks to the command the Metapod received.

"Hmph, Rattata use hyper fang." A trainer said. He had long brown hair reaching his shoulders, a green jacket over a black short sleeve t-shirt, blue jeans and normal pair of black and white Adidas shoes.

The Rattata's fangs glowed and it bit down on the Metapod effectively knocking it out "Metapod is unable to battle. Alistor wins…again" the crowd went somber; murmurs about him being unbeatable went through.

"Hey Luce do you think he would be good to gauge our strength with?" the Ralts seemingly brave, possibly from the adrenaline of watching the battle, shook its head yes. The two walked to the front of the crowd "Alistor, I challenge you to a battle. A one on one." Alistor looked at him and then the Ralts

"Fine, just another win to add to my streak." Getting in their respective areas Luce was all ready to fight. Alistor sent out his Rattata

"This match against challenger Joe and his Ralts against Street battler Alistor. One on one match. BEGIN!"

"Luce, use confusion!" Luce glowed a light purple and that glow went to Rattata knocking it around by lifting it in the air and slamming it back down. When it ended rattata was confused.

"Rattata, get a hold of yourself, use quick attack followed by bite." The rattata shook off its confusion and did just as its trainer told it to. Moving at high speeds and then tackling the Ralts to the ground before jumping on it and using bite. The bite attack being super effective with the type difference but Luce was still in.

"Use growl, Luce!" Luce bit its lower lip and let out a threatening growl, making Rattata lower its attack power out of minor fear "now use confusion!" again Luce glowed the same purple and knocked Rattata around again, but when it countered, that's when shit hit the fan.

"Rattata, counter with quick attack going into hyper fang." Landing on its feet after being smacked around it ran towards Luce with high speed, after it got close it's fangs glowed and it bit down on Luce; knocking it out. "Rattata, give it a bite for good measure."

"What are you doing? Luce already lost!" Joe ran towards Luce to stop Rattata to stop the bite but was too late, the Ralts let out a scream of pain

"Hmph, your Pokémon is weak." Alistor turned, recalled Rattata and left.

"Come on Luce lets get you to a Pokémon center." Picking up Luce he turned to the crowd "does anyone know the way to the Pokémon center?"

"As a matter of fact I do." An old woman came out of the crowd looking at least in her sixties; she wore a purple blouse and skirt with an apron on it and was walking with a cane. "My name is Agatha, of the Kanto elite four. I must say, that was some battle you and your Pokémon put up considering you're a beginner."

"If you don't mind me asking, ma'am, why is one of the elite four here?" he asked

"I'm taking over as temporary replacement as the viridian gym leader until a new one is found. Now come along, your Ralts was badly hurt after it was knocked out and that is not good." That said, the two went along to the viridian Pokémon center.

_Pokémon center_

The Pokémon center was just like the one in Celedon even the same Nurse joy….or so Joe thought, when confronted she said it might have been her sister. She then proceeded to take out a picture of her family, oddly enough everyone of them looked the same and had the same Name as well….this just earned a sweat drop the size a poke ball on the back of Joe's head

Now currently, Joe was sitting on a waiting bench for Ralts to get out of the recovery room, Agatha had excused herself to get lunch. He was feeling bad about Ralts' injuries

"Luce, I'm sorry…I'm not cut out to be a trainer, am I?"

"Now what would make you think that?" Joe looked up and saw Agatha had returned

"If I didn't get into that battle, Ralts would be ok still, maybe I should've just went to Almia and become a ranger like dad."

"Now look here, Samuel told me what you did to help that Pokémon and if you hadn't been on your way to his lab, those Pokémon that were being taken away would've had terrible lives. The way I see it, you did great in your first battle. The opponent was just tougher than you were, but don't let that get you down. Pokémon battle to gain experience and grow. You know this, correct?" the boy nodded a yes "then you know that Pokémon are always going to get hurt, one way or another, we as trainers grow with our Pokémon to make sure that they are strong, that it becomes strong just as we do. Being a trainer is a lot of responsibility yes, but from the trainers I've seen come and go, they have fun growing with their Pokémon, their partners more often than naught. Do you see my point?"

"Yeah, I think so. You're saying that I shouldn't be too hard on myself or Luce because of our first loss."

"Excellent. So young and already has a brain of a good trainer. So rare to come by now a days. Ha ha ha ha"

"Heeeeeyyyyyyyy. Sigh. So what gym should me and Luce go to first." He asked

"Eh"

"Since your one of the elite four, taking the gym battle here is out of the option, at least for now anyways." Agatha smiled at him.

"Once your Ralts is done healing head towards the viridian forest, from there head north to pewter city, they have a gym there and the former gym leader was one of the roadies of the boy that challenged me, I believe his name is Brock. But now the gym leaders name is flint, the boy's father. The viridian forest is also the best training site for beginner trainers as when you encounter a wild Pokémon, meaning that it jumps in front of you and looks at you, you have to battle it. This helps the trainer and Pokémon grow and at the same time you can get the opportunity to catch a new addition to the party."

Joe pulled out his map "huh, there's a small side path around the forest. Would you happen to know anything about that Ms. Agatha?"

"That road is my personal training site. A friend of mine has a Pokémon orphanage for the Pokémon that have been abandoned, unlike the one in lavender town though, there is a rule. The Pokémon has to consent to the person being the trainer before being adopted. The area around it though has tough Pokémon, strong enough to give me a challenge. As a proclamation, I have deemed it purity forest. If you'd like I can show you and even help you train. If a psychic type can overwhelm a ghost type; now that is a pretty big feat don't you think?" Joe nodded and they went on their way

Thankfully it was Agatha's day off at the gym. So they had a fairly easy time packing up for the trip. Now the trip in itself was about four hours and with Luce not strong enough yet to over come the Pokémon in the area yet, Agatha had to have her Haunter out as a spotter to help Luce when she was in a bind. When they reached the Pokémon orphanage What Joe saw shocked him like a Raichu using thunderbolt on him, All of those poor Pokémon, abandoned by their trainers. It truly was sad.

"Hello and welcome to the Pokémon orphanage of purity forest. Are you here as a guest or are you going to work for a Pokémon in need." A woman came from behind them and quickly noticed Agatha "oh, miss Agatha, your back for more training already?" Agatha shook her head

"No, this young one caught my eye in his first street battle against that Alistor fellow. He did quite well and was able to knock around his Rattata for a bit. Again quite the feat considering he's only a rookie." Ignoring the 'hey' in the background they both laughed. Joe took this time to get a good look at the woman.

She had long black hair that reached to her mid back. She had a Marine blue Kimono with star patterns on the bottom half. Around her waist was a silver Obi (is that what it's called?) with two poke balls hanging on the side of it. After getting the good look, he decided it was best to introduce himself.

"My name is Joe. A trainer from Fuchsia and this…"he opened the poke ball of his partner "is Luce."

'Nice to meet you'

"My name is Rinoa, pleasure to meet you both. So you're here to train huh?" Joe and Luce nodded "well training and lodging aren't exactly free. You'll have to work while you're here. Sorry but these are the rules."

"well, that won't stop us. We came here for training and if a few chores are needed to do so, then by god we will do it!" Joe stated.

For the next few weeks Joe and Luce were working and training with the other Pokémon that lived in the orphanage. But peace would not stay for long a shadow loomed in the distance.

"so this is the place huh?" a figure asked.

"Yes sir. The Pokémon orphanage of purity forest. Home to a vast amount of ghost, grass, and bug type Pokémon." The grunt replied.

The figure smiled "soon. Yes very soon, team dimsun will return." He let out a maniacal laugh

* * *

><p><em>Four days later<em>

As the training progressed, Luce became more open with other Pokémon. Of course the training didn't stop, and Agatha was right, the Pokémon in the area were strong. Now we find Joe and Luce training against a Pidgeot that was released by its trainer years ago to help its brethren. Luce was on it's last legs. And then…..

"Frost, use Ice beam." The beam of ice hit the Pidgeot, freezing its wing.

"Wha!" Joe turned around "No…You, you can't be here. Ice!" the man before him laughed.

"I'm here right now, aren't I? Team dimsun is rising from the cold ashes and will be better than ever; once we get hold of Darkrai and Cressalia we will rule the world from dream. We will summon the ancient demon that not even Arceus could vanquish."

An explosion was heard in the distance "hmph, it seems Lavana is here already. Oh well. Frost, end them with blizzard." The Glaceon did as instructed however Luce got in the middle and protected them with a "safeguard? Luce…."

Luce was still tired from its battle with the Pidgeot. But not all was lost.

"Bliss, use Flamethrower!" a jet of fire took the Glaceon by surprise and knocked it out. "Joe isn't the only one here that can battle. This orphanage was left to me by my mother; I will protect it with all I have and then some." Rinoa shouted with pride. That orphanage was close to all she had of her parents.

"Us too, Right Luce. We'll…" he was cut off

"YOU! You're that Keith's kid, Joe wasn't it? Oh I owe him big time. Volcano, Burn everything in sight with Lava plume!" a blast of magma burst towards them, Luce was able to shield them for a bit with Safeguard, but even it had its limits the lava plume broke through and Luce was burned badly. The crossfire however did heal the Pidgeot of its frozen wing. Flying towards Joe it got ready for battle.

"Huh, Pidgeot? You want to fight too?" the bird pokemon nodded. "Alright. Pidgeot, use Steelwing!" the bird pokemon's wings started glowing as it speed towards the fire type. Causing a direct hit, the blast pokemon became enraged and shot off random bursts of lava plume hoping to hit.

"Volcano, Just what do you think your doing! HIT THE DAMN BIRD ALREADY!" Lavana was just as enraged.

"Pidgeot, swoop in for an Ariel Ace and then switch to Brave bird!" Pidgeot did as told flying upward it did a complete 360, tucking in it's wings to gain speed, it charged on. Right before hitting the ground, it changed direction, dodging the blasts from the magmortar, the brave bird attack activated. Pidgeots body was enveloped in a white flame, shooting forward non stop. Direct hit, a smoke cloud rose. Pidgeot flew out, but the Magmortar was still standing.

"Gengar, use Dark Pulse!"

* * *

><p><em>Next time on pokemon light: onward to pewter...meeting up with family<em>

"_Ugh, you haven't seen the last of us ranger brat."_

"_This orphanage was my home, the last thing I had of my parents and you say it'll be alright!"_

"_Pidgeot? Do…do you want to come with me?"_

_"Joe! what're you doing here?"_


	3. onward to pewter!

Chapter 3: onward to pewter….meet pink

* * *

><p>"Gengar use Dark pulse!" a pulse of dark energy got shot at the Volcano Pokémon, knocking it out effectively. The group turned to find an angry Agatha "You lot had better be ready to face punishment! First you come here trying to take these Pokémon and then you have the gall to try and aim for a <em>kill <em>of all things just because of some bad blood between you all and this boy's father? Despicable." The Gengar put its finger and made a sound that sounded like 'tsk tsk' while shaking its head. "If you value what's good for you, you'll stand down and turn yourselves in." Ice seemed to be weighing his options.

"Well, I've made my decision." Ice quickly looked to his partner in crime to give the next order. "LAVANA, ESCAPE PLAN DELTA MINOR!" Lavana ground her teeth but conceded. She used a spare Revive on her Magmortar

"Volcano, use smokescreen!" the Magmortar did as told and spouted a thick smoke out of its cannon-like arms allowing them to escape. Joe had Pidgeot use whirlwind to blow away the smoke, but they were already gone.

"Well…at least we held our ground. That counts for something right?" it was then that he noticed that she was looking toward her home…or rather what was left of it.

Rinoa broke down, Joe and Agatha at either side trying to comfort the distraught girl.

"Come now Rinoa, a home is not something to be this distraught over. Surely you can't feel as sad as you look about it."

"Ms. Agatha's right, a house can be replaced, but a life can't, so ple-"

"What would you know?" it was barely above a whisper, but still clear as day. "JUST WHAT THE FUCK WOULD YOU KNOW! THIS ORPHANAGE WAS ALL I HAD LEFT OF MY PARENTS! WHAT RIGHT HAVE YOU TO SAY IT'S ALRIGHT?"

"I don't have that right." Joe took out a knife and cut his finger, causing them to gasp "a wound to the flesh is something that will heal and likely leave a scar as a reminder. A wound to the heart is something that can't be taken away by just a few weeks; it needs years of support, friendship, and trust. All of which are elements of love. Look around you, all of the Pokémon you helped are here wanting to see you up on your feet and know that you can continue on."

Just as he had said, the various Pokémon that had been taken into the Pokémon orphanage were there, crying for her loss ass well "Everyone…."

"I may not have the right to say it'll be okay, but if I don't then nothing else would reach you." The Pokémon looked at him in appreciation.

Still crying Rinoa looked up at Joe with a new light. She knew she could trust him.

"Rinoa, I once told you that your parents were good friends of mine. I think they would be smiling on you because you've done so much to carry on their legacy as caretakers. Now I believe it's your turn to fulfill your dream." Rinoa gasped

"No, no, no, I-I couldn't. I"

"You should follow your heart" Joe cut her off. "You may have been happy helping these Pokémon but now, what I think is that they want you to follow your heart and fulfill your own dream. My dad once told me, that if you follow your heart and overcome the challenges set before you, you'll find the happiness that will fulfill your life." He stuck his hand out to her "come on. Life is a highway, and these are the roads we travel, so why not travel together?" Rinoa dried her eyes and took his hand and stood.

She looked at all of the Pokémon. "Thank you for being there for me, all of you."

"POCKET RAPE!" they all turned towards Joe who was trying to get the Pidgeot out of his…..pocket? "GET OUT OF THERE!" the Pidgeot pulled out with a poke ball in its beak and set it on the ground.

What happened next was unbelievable. The Pidgeot tapped on the center of the poke ball twice with its beak. Once to make the red and white ball grow and a second time to have the ball capture it. The ball's center glowed red for a few moments until its glow died down signaling a successful capture.

"You…you wanted to come with me?" he said in bewilderment "alright then, I'll call you Avios, king of the sky!" he said with a smile.

"Well, now that all of that is all settled, I think that your first objective is to go to Pewter and get supplies for Rinoa." Agatha held out a sum of money "This should cover the costs of the supplies. Joe, Rinoa is like a grand-daughter to me, make sure she doesn't get hurt and treat her well. Now go on you two and skedaddle; you've got a long road ahead of you." both Rinoa and Joe nodded, returning their Pokémon to their respective poke balls, they set out towards Pewter city.

* * *

><p>Two days had passed since the destruction of the purity forest poke-orphanage; the duo had now come into Pewter city and frankly, they were starving.<p>

"Ugh….I'm so hungry I could eat a ponyta." Joe complained.

"Stop you're whining, the sooner we stock up on supplies, the sooner we can go get a meal." Rinoa looked at him only to see that he was in a food trance

"I wonder if Pecha berries and cheri berries would make a good juice for stake…." Rinoa's eye twitched. Out of nowhere she pulled out a mallet and whacked him over the head with it.

"OUCH! WHAT WAS THAT FOR!"

"It was to bring you back to reality, now I'll repeat myself one last time; the sooner we get the supplies, the sooner we can get a meal. Now stop complaining and let's go!" Joe had anime tears running down his cheeks from the smack that Rinoa gave him. Once they got to the store, Rinoa went and picked up the supplies while Joe went and looked for any information about the gym leader here in pewter.

Joe had found that the Gym leader's name was Flint; father of the original gym leader: Brock. He only had two Pokémon; a golem and a vibrava. Well it was going to be a challenge but if Joe got lucky, he and his Pokémon would get lucky and pull a win out of their asses. When he got back to Rinoa, she was talking with another trainer, one that looked really familiar to Joe.

"Pink?" the girls looked at him.

"OMG! Joe! What're you doing here?"

"I could ask the same thing."

"Excuse me, but could someone explain what's going on here?" Joe and the girl named Pink looked at Rinoa.

"Rinoa, this is my cousin; Pink. Pink, this is Rinoa; my travel companion" Pink put on a mischievous grin.

"So she's your girlfriend." Both of the people in question turned beat red and started stuttering incoherent phrases

"WE ARE NOT LIKE THAT!" a lot of people were staring at them now. A still beat red Rinoa spoke. "Look, we have the supplies, let's just get something to eat and head to the gym, okay Joe?"

"OH OH, I wanna come with!" Joe paled

"Dear Arceus help us all" Joe whispered and then cleared my throat "W-why would you want to come with us. After all it's going to be so boring out on our journey." Pink looked confused for a moment and then started laughing.

"Silly Joe Joe, you can't get rid of me that easily. Besides I'm entered for the Pokémon league as well. Besides if we challenge the gym leader to a double battle then he'll accept and put in a two on two rule set for us." Joe's eyes widened as he realized the truth to what she said

"Pink, you're a genius when you want to be; ya know that? AND FOR THE LOVE OF ARCEUS, STOP CALLING ME THAT!" the girl laughed and suddenly Rinoa knew that this was going to be trouble.

The now group of three had just finished their meals at a small burger joint, and were on their way to the gym

"So, which Pokémon are you going to use?" Pink asked

"Well, Avios looks way more experienced so I think I'm going to go with Luce." Pink cocked her head to the side.

"Who's Lucifer and Avian?" Joe and Rinoa sighed.

"Luce and Avios," putting emphasis on the names "are in respective order, a Ralts and a Pidgeot. Although from what I've seen, Luce is a bit different from a normal Ralts. I can't help but wander why." The gym doors fast approached as the dwelling nervousness in the trainers grew.

Will our hero's win their first badge? Find out next time on Pokemon Light!

* * *

><p><em>Next time:<em>

"_So you both want to battle today huh? Well sorry to disappoint but my wife is the only other full trainer here and she's out of town for the next few days."_

"_Pink, I thought we had a deal"_

"_Congratulations! I, Flint, hereby confer to you the Boulder Badge."_


End file.
